FUNDAMENTAL FACTS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH 2016

1. The extent of mental health problems
1.1 The prevalence and impact
of mental health problems
Mental health problems are a growing
public health concern. This chapter
provides an overview of the prevalence
of mental health problems, both globally
and in the UK, and details on the main
types of problems and their impact on
mortality, disability and suicidal intent.
The association between violence and
mental health issues is also explored.
Global
• A recent index of 301 diseases
found mental health problems to
be one of the main causes of the
overall disease burden worldwide. 14
(They were shown to account for
21.2% of years lived with disability
worldwide.)
• According to the 2013 Global
Burden of Disease study, the
predominant mental health problem
worldwide is depression, followed by
anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder. 15
• In 2013, depression was the second
leading cause of years lived with
disability worldwide, behind
lower back pain. In 26 countries,
depression was the primary driver of
disability. 16
• Depressive disorders also contribute
to the burden of suicide and heart
disease on mortality and disability;
they have both a direct and an
indirect impact on the length and
quality of life. 17
• The World Health Organization
(WHO) estimates that between
35% and 50% of people with
severe mental health problems in
developed countries, and 76 – 85%
in developing countries, receive no
treatment. 18
The UK
Measuring the prevalence of mental
health problems is challenging for many
reasons: underfunding, the hidden
nature of mental health issues, and
the variation in diagnostic practices
across the country. The devolved
nations measure mental health in
different ways, which makes it difficult
to determine whether areas have more
or fewer mental health problems due
to differences in the methods used.
Therefore, we need to be cautious about
directly comparing statistics, as they
are not always resulting from similar
surveying techniques.
The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey
(APMS), which has been carried out
every seven years since 1993, offers
some of the most reliable data for the
trends and prevalence of many different
mental health problems and treatments.
The survey carried out in 2014 and
published in 2016 is the source of many
of the prevalence figures cited in this
section.
Each of the APMS surveys in the series
used the revised Clinical Interview
Schedule (CIS-R). The CIS-R is an
interviewer-administered structured
interview schedule that assesses the
13